Press Releases

Interior Cuts in Trump Administration’s “Skinny” Budget to Leave Lasting Scars on Public Lands, Tribal Nations, and Human Health

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Interior-Environment Subcommittee on the Senate Appropriations Committee, released the below statement following the release of President Trump’s ‘skinny’ budget for Fiscal Year 2026. “This budget is exactly what we expected from this administration: abandoning critical programs, slashing essential government services,

Merkley Announces Central Oregon Town Halls 

Washington, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley announced today he will hold three town halls for Oregonians in Jefferson, Crook, and Deschutes counties on Saturday, May 10.  Merkley will be joined by U.S. Representative Janelle Bynum for the Deschutes County town hall in Sisters.  The three rescheduled events in Central

Sens. Wicker, Merkley Introduce Bipartisan Nurse Corps Tax Parity Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Co-Chairs of the Senate Nursing Caucus, introduced the Nurse Corps Tax Parity Act. This legislation would ensure that nurses in the federal Nurse Corps do not need to pay income tax on their student loan repayments and scholarships. “Nurses are essential to

Merkley, Walden Deliver Crooked River Agreement as Legislation Passes Senate

WASHINGTON – Today, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Greg Walden announced they have reached an agreement on legislation to implement a collaborative vision for water management along the Crooked River, and that the bill passed the Senate unanimously this afternoon. These developments set the stage for the bill to

Merkley Announces Plan for Sweeping LGBT Civil Rights Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley announced his plan to push broad LGBT civil rights legislation today before a meeting of the Center for American Progress (CAP).  In his keynote speech for the event “We The People: Why Congress Must Pass a Comprehensive LGBT Non-Discrimination Act,” Merkley laid out his rationale

Senators Push EPA for Stronger Carbon Pollution Reductions in Clean Power Plan

WASHINGTON – Today, Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley and Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) led eleven Senators in calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strengthen its proposed Clean Power Plan to achieve even greater reductions of carbon pollution. In the first major congressional call to further strengthen the plan from

Merkley Statement on Grand Jury Decisions in Missouri and New York

WASHINGTON – Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley released the following statement after the grand jury decisions in Ferguson, MO and Staten Island, NY: “The deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner are tragic, and my thoughts are with their families and friends during this difficult time. Their deaths, and those of

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